Sharon Bialy is a native New Yorker who grew up immersed in the theatre. Her first foray into casting in Los Angeles was as assistant to Rick Pagano, who promoted Bialy to associate, and later, to partner, with Debi Manwiller and himself. The partnership of Pagano/ Manwiller/Bialy has cast over a dozen features including Bound by Honor, Drugstore Cowboy, The Three Musketeers. In 1994, Bialy amicably separated from her partners and began a career as a solo-casting director. Since then, she casted popular TV series including, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, Battle Creek and Gotham. Bialy has worked for the esteemed Guthrie Theatre and cast the films Mr. Holland’s Opus, Race the Sun and Santa Fe, which she also co-produced.
The hardest thing about the acting profession is the fact that somebody else has to give you permission to do it. Somebody has to grant you a job. It’s different for painters and writers who can just sit at home and create whenever they want. So every opportunity you get to act, you should do it. And acting classes offer that opportunity.
Auditions are also opportunities to act. And so they should be joyful experiences. As a casting director, I love auditions, because during the readings, I get to act with some of the greatest actors around.
It depends on the medium. There is a difference. There are certain actors who innately understand the camera and don’t need a theatrical background. However, I have usually found that it is the actors with solid theatrical backgrounds who have depth in their work, color in their choices, and an inborn understanding of life and emotions that comes across clearly.
There is a difference between auditioning for the theatre and auditioning for film. The simplest explanation would be large and small. For film and television, the camera is so close it captures everything you do. You can’t lie. Your choices are minute, but they are still choices. The actor should display his emotions in a smaller fashion and draw the viewer into him. While for the stage, the actor has to reach out. That’s why, when I cast theatre actors for film, I tell them, “Just be aware that the camera is right up to your nose. That is the only thing you have to remember.”
It’s important for the actor to come in confident. I know that’s very hard to do because everyone is so needy. But as soon as you project that desperation and neediness, it gets in the way of getting the part. The producer and the director want to hire actors who make them feel confident and secure. As soon as they see the insecurities, it makes them nervous. The best thing to do is to walk in, be friendly and courteous, do the part and leave. Don’t stand there and say, “I can do this part in a lot of ways.” If you’re good, they know that you can do it in a lot of different ways.
However, an actor should restart his reading if he feels it’s not going in the right direction. I think you can break any rule if you are good. If you mess up, you just better be damn good the second time.
I think actors need to be receptive about what’s going on in the audition room. If the director gives them a direction, it means that they’re interested so actors should make sure to adjust exactly, according to the director’s instructions. Unfortunately, actors often do not respond to the new directions and give the same reading.
It’s also important not to change your performance during your callback. The reason you are being called back is because I liked what you did in the first place, so show the same choices to the producer.
Some people can do that. I have seen people who haven’t read the script before an audition and get the part anyway. But I don’t think that’s the norm. For a big part, it’s better to do your homework. It’s very hard to compete against people who have studied the script and who know the arc of a character. If the character grows within the story and the actor is familiar with the journey the character will take, then he will know exactly where the scene fits within the sequence of the whole. But if you just walk in cold and don’t know anything about the whole script, it’s going to be tough for you to compete. Generally, I think people need to work harder. Most people don’t work hard enough. You get ahead in this town by luck, by talent and by hard work. And hard work counts for a lot.
I would strongly suggest that they get involved in the world of independent film. They should inform their agents—and yes, the agent works for you, not the other way around—that they are willing to work for scale on independent films. A lot of these films are directed by young people who will be the next wave. Some of these movies are shown at festivals such as Sundance, and every executive in the business attends. Plus, these new directors who are doing their first films will be thrilled to be working with those older actors. Money should not be a deterrent to those senior actors. I did Crossing the Bridge, Mike Binder’s first film, and I remember a particular actor turned a role down because it only paid scale plus 10 percent. It was a beautiful role and the person who ended up doing it revived his career.
Some brilliant actors are shy in interviews. So if you know you are shy and really love the work, then just concentrate on the work. Don’t go into a room and try to be the life of the party. On the other hand, if you are a personality, enjoy it. Actors need to seize the moment. When a great theatre director comes to town and offers you a small role in a play, take it. It will shape the kind of actor you will become. A lot of actors do ninety-nine seat waiver theatres in Los Angeles to be seen, as opposed to doing good work. The truth is, if you do it to do good work, you’ll probably be seen anyway. The motivation has to be the work itself.
Throughout my career agents have asked me, “Why are you still doing theatre casting? You don’t need it anymore.” But nothing compares to the experience of going into a room with great actors and directors and putting together the casting of a great play. It inspires you; it shapes your whole aesthetic. It also makes you a better casting director.
Similarly, actors should realize that the quality of doing two lines in a film by a great director is more integral, more important to their career arc, than doing a bigger part with better pay in something else. Sure, they can make a lot of money in a sitcom, but what does that mean in the span of their career versus a body of really great work with talented, inspiring people?
I feel that the best actors are fiercely intelligent. It’s a combination of work ethic and brains. There is a difference in people who strive to be great and those who just do it. Those who strive to be great accomplish things in life and are better actors who make better choices.
Sharon Bialy
5933 W Slauson Ave. #2105. Culver City, CA 90230
323.468.4533